Newsletter

K-State basketball starts rebuilding process

Kansas State guard Will Spradling (55) will be one of the few veteran players on the floor when the Wildcats open the 2013-14 basketball season Friday night at home against Northern Colorado.

MANHATTAN — With the loss of three starters from last year’s team, including the top two scorers, coach Bruce Weber faces a rebuilding job in his second season at Kansas State.

It’s not a complete reconstruction project with returning starters Will Spradling and Shane Southwell, but fresh faces among five freshmen and new roles for veterans is cause for some uncertainty as the Wildcats open the season against Northern Colorado at 8 p.m. Friday at Bramlage Coliseum.

“I hope we have a little bit of a foundation,” Weber said. “We haven’t even started framing the house, yet.

“We’re figuring things out. We’re not supposed to be perfect, yet. We’re still learning and figuring it out and the young guys are figuring out how hard they have to play and how consistent they have to be if you’re going to have success.”

Freshmen Marcus Foster, Nigel Johnson and Wesley Iwundu were impressive in an exhibition win over Pittsburg State, but the intensity increases now as the games count.

“We’re still trying to figure out our roles,” Spradling said. “For the freshmen, that was their first game and under the lights is a lot different. You could tell they had a lot of jitters. Marcus had a lot of open shots that he normally knocks down. Wesley and Nigel were kind of rushing it a little bit, but that’s to be expected. They’ll figure it out.”

Spradling faces the biggest adjustment, taking over the point guard role. The senior didn’t score against Pittsburg State, going 0 of 4 from the field, with one assist and one turnover.

“I didn’t expect to get as many shots as Marcus and Shane,” Spradling said. “Marcus is a scorer and so is Shane so I wasn’t expecting to get a ton of shots.

“I only had one turnover, which I was happy about, but I didn’t have many assists and I thought I could have done a better job.”

Northern Colorado brings a veteran squad to Bramlage. The Bears return all five starters from a 13-18 team led by second team All-Big Sky guard Tate Unruh, who shot 43 percent from 3-point range last season (92 of 215).

“They have older guys and one of the best shooters in the country,” Weber said. “They are a great 3-point shooting team and they have somebody inside (6-9 Connor Osborne) that can front us a little bit. It will be a good challenge for us.

“You’re trying to build your resume right now, but at the same time we have to get experience. That experience, hopefully, creates consistency and if you add experience and consistency together you’re going to have success.”

TIP-INS

■ Thomas Gipson, held out of the exhibition with an undisclosed injury, has returned to practice but Weber said Wednesday he didn’t know if Gipson will play Friday. Also questionable is Omari Lawrence, who injured his ankle Wednesday.

■ There are no plans at this time to redshirt any players. “We don’t have the numbers to do that,” Weber said.

■ The Wildcats will play six games in 17 days, including three in four days at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Nov. 21, 22 and 24. “You’ll find a lot out in the next couple of weeks about everybody,” Weber said.

■ The Friday doubleheader gets underway at 5:45 p.m. with the K-State women opening their season against Tennessee State.